BMW M2 tipped for line-up
GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver and then when he started a motoring section in Perth’s The Western Mail. He was then appointed as a finance writer for the evening Daily News, supplemented by writing its motoring column. He moved to The Sunday Times as finance editor and after a nine-year term, finally drove back into motoring when in 1998 he was asked to rebrand and restyle the newspaper’s motoring section, expanding it over 12 years from a two-page section to a 36-page lift-out. In 2010 he was selected to join News Ltd’s national motoring group Carsguide and covered national and international events, launches, news conferences and Car of the Year awards until November 2014 when he moved into freelancing, working for GoAuto, The West Australian, Western 4WDriver magazine, Bauer Media and as an online content writer for one of Australia’s biggest car groups. He has involved himself in all aspects including motorsport where he has competed in everything from motocross to motorkhanas and rallies including Targa West and the ARC Forest Rally. He loves all facets of the car industry, from design, manufacture, testing, marketing and even business structures and believes cars are one of the few high-volume consumables to combine a very high degree of engineering enlivened with an even higher degree of emotion from its consumers.
Read full bioCarsGuide puts every effort into ensuring the accuracy of the information it publishes. Double-check the details that matter to you before buying. Learn more about how we fact check.
The performance coupe gets the "2'' designation and replaces the existing 1-Series. But it will be a proper M-car, says AutoExpress, with the 3-litre in-line six pumping about 265kW.
BMW may pursue a M135i replacement - the M235i - as a toned down version with the same drivetrain as the outgoing model. That's about 235kW. Though only about 30kW will separate the two, the M2 will pick up all of M division's tricks including lightweight carbon-fibre materials, slippery aerodynamics, different drivetrains and suspension systems.
AutoExpress adds that a mechanical limited-slip differential will also be on the list, rather than the electronic traction aids used in the M135i and future M235i. It may also get fixed-rate suspension dampers rather than the adaptive units used in the M135i.
"As the pinnacle of the 2-Series range, the M2 will have to be the quickest, so it'll need to better the M235i's expected 4.9-second 0-100km/h time.'' AutoExpress says.
"A lower kerb weight and more powerful engine mean a time of around 4.6 seconds is possible - which is the same as the outgoing M3's figure.''
The M2 may also get the option of an auto box, rather than the manual-only box of the outgoing hot coupe. The 2-Series is expected to be revealed early next year, indicating the M2 may be as far away as 2015.
Why you should trust us
Read More
GoAutoMedia Cars have been the corner stone to Neil’s passion, beginning at pre-school age, through school but then pushed sideways while he studied accounting. It was rekindled when he started contributing to magazines including Bushdriver…
About Neil